the promises Iwata made during nintendo direct regarding the wii U updates. Which is what this article is about. They promised updates in spring with another one in the summer. We just had the summer one so that's what the article is about.

I'm pretty sure that I can't background download firmware updates, only game updates. If I'm wrong, then even I'm surprised. Unfortunately, I don't know much about what the Wii U can do because I don't use it that much. I bought it in hopes of the next Smash and Zelda, and after all this waiting, it wont be until 2014 and 2015. Just disappointing a bit with Nintendo's launch, no need to downvote as if I'm a fanboy.

Yes, the Wii U has been able to do background downloads of all updates, including firmware updates, for a while now. This ability was patched in on its second big update, I think, which was some months ago.

Was this the first software update you did for your Wii U? If it was, maybe that's why you couldn't do it on the background, because it wasn't put in yet. Now it should be able to.

I updated every time a new update came out, but it only shows the download bar, and a button that says either "Later" or "Not Now". Is it like the 3ds were if I press the button, it will download automatically when powered off?